(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

My Fine Furred Friend - Chapter 4

Dipping the towel into the water, the skeleton set to carefully cleaning the blood out of Goth's fur. He was pleased to find the wound was already healing over as he cleaned around a fresh scab. He worked quietly for the better part of an hour with only the occasional chirp or squeak from the bat in his hand.

As Palette wiped away the excess water and checked for any missed bloodstains, he marveled at how soft and silky Goth's fur was. He was so lost in his awe, he didn't realize he was petting his friend until a small squeak brought him out his daze.

Contrary to his initial worry, Goth actually seemed to enjoy the attention, shifting to make himself comfortable in the skeleton's palm as his eyes began to droop.

Palette set aside the towel, exchanging it for the roll of bandages to loosely cover the scab. Hopefully, it would prevent re-injury while still allowing Goth a full range of motion.

Bringing him to the bed and placing him back on the pillow to rest, Palette grabbed the towel, rinsing it out in the sink so he could attempt to remove the bloodstains from his clothes. His gloves would probably be fine since they were already brown. A simple wash later would suffice.

Once the stains were nothing more than pale brown blotches, the skeleton tossed the shirt into his wash pile and donned a clean shirt. Afterward, he prepared to make his lunch, clean the dirty dishes in the sink, and finish the other chores that needed to be done.

He had admittedly been shirking work in favor of visiting Goth for the past week, so a good housecleaning was well overdue.

After lunch, Palette got started on cleaning his house and preparing dinner. Almost three hours passed this way, with the monster glancing up every so often to check on his guest. He smiled at the smooth rise and fall of Goth's fluffy body as he slept.

He eventually looked toward the window, noticing the light outside the curtains was dimmer than before. Nighttime was approaching.

It's about time to make supper, I should probably try waking Goth to see if he's hungry again. I wonder if vampires eat normal food, too... I should ask him.

Before he could act on his thoughts, banging against the door made him jump, the culprit on the other side shouting, "Roller, get out here!"

Chad.

As he stood to answer, a tiny chirp caught his attention. Goth was awakened by the noise outside, his gaze unfocused but nervous.

He knew something was wrong.

Palette strode lightly across the hardwood floor, giving the bat a reassuring pet as he murmured, "Don't worry, I'll figure out a way to get him to leave. I won't let him hurt you."

Turning away from his friend, the skeleton mustered his best neutral expression as he reached for the handle, opening the door just enough for his skull to fit through. His mask faltered when he saw it wasn't just Chad... it seemed like the whole village was here.

The multitude of torches and the gleam of weapons many of them were carrying didn't bode well.

"Where is it, Roller?" Chad spat, glaring down at him.

"Where's what?" Palette replied, gripping the handle tightly while trying to muster a confused smile despite the itching feeling crawling up his back.

"Don't play dumb, my whole group saw you running off with the bat, you even named it! It was too weak to go off by itself, we know you're hiding it!" he ranted, pushing the door and barging into his home.

Snapping his skull toward the bed, Palette was equal parts thankful and worried that Goth was no longer on the pillow.

Chad's cursory search yielded no results as well. His fists clenched to the point of popping as he growled, "I know the vampire's here, so where is it?!"

Palette shook his skull silently, still denying the hunter's claim. Reaching forward, the man grabbed him by the vest just below his scarf and dragged him outside, throwing him to the dirt a good distance away. The skeleton coughed and wheezed at the dust his fall kicked up.

"Light it up, we'll smoke the hellspawn out of hiding!" Chad called out to the crowd.

The skeleton rose to his feet, his soul pounding frantically as he grabbed the man's shoulder, yelling, "What? No! You can't do that, that's my-"

Chad's arm connected with Palette's stomach, cutting off his words and sending him to his knees in another coughing fit.

As villagers began torching the house, Chad sneered, "You should have thought about that before throwing your lot in with them. If you care more about those things than your own neighbors, then you don't deserve to live here among us. Just be thankful we're not burning you with that abomination."

The skeleton watched in horror as dark plumes of acrid smoke rose into the sky, spurred on by the bright flames that licked eagerly at the wooden frame of his home.

A home that still held Goth within.

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Word count: 1,472